Tempering Thunder
by JaphirTheGreenDragon
Summary: So, what would happen if Thor had ended up outside an OC, named Maria Lockridge,'s house? This. Based after the 2011 movie with Chris Hemsworth. I suggest watching the movie before reading as I didn't change any of the events that happened in Asgard, just what happened on Earth. Because, let's face it. Chris Hemsworth is SEXY. Rated T for THOR! and also for language.
1. It's Rainin' Men!

_**DISCLAIMER- None of this is real. The places are not made up but I do not actually live there. This is written in the perspective of a character that I made up. Plus Thor belongs to Marvel.**_

_**By the way, as I seem to have neglected mentioning until the second chapter, the main character's name is Maria.**_

* * *

It was just another summer day that was, of course, not summery. It was raining and windy and all over ugh. I wasn't too eager to get out of bed at the lovely hour of 6:00 AM to face this gross day but I did so all the same. At about 9:00. My mother was off on vacation with her new boyfriend and wouldn't be home until the next night so I had the whole house to myself. I got up, fed the dog and sat down for another day of playing my favorite video game, Dragon Age. But the day didn't continue so normally. The wind grew outside, whipping around my house with a fury I'd never seen before. And trust me, living on a lake, it gets pretty windy sometimes. I love the wind, it feels wonderful just standing outside and letting it gust past you, but sometimes... Sometimes it scares me. If it's really bad I'm always afraid that the wind will bring down a tree or something on my house or something like that. Today? I was terrified. I was watching from my window and I saw what looked like the beginning of a tornado start high above me. Now, you have to understand, I live in rural Maine. We get tornados up here just about as often as earthquakes... which is never. So, I nearly peed myself I was so scared. A huge swirling beam struck the ground just behind my house. A second later it was gone. The wind died instantly and all that remained of the episode were broken branches and a crater in my backyard. I ran downstairs, grabbed a Tae Kwon Do bo(something akin to a walking stick used for fighting) and went to investigate the crater. The dust had cleared by the time I got out and clear as day, lying in the center, was a man. An incredibly well chiseled, _naked_ man, I might add. I held up my hand to block his lower half from my view(yes, I am a teenage girl, and no, I do NOT want to see that... not yet anyway). Sidling up to him, I poked him with my bo and jumped back a bit, flinching. He didn't move. I moved in closer, suddenly worried that he may have been hurt and knelt next to him. God, was he gorgeous! He had shoulder length blond hair and stubble all up his jaw.

"Hey!" I tapped his shoulder, "Hey, are you okay?" He groaned and rolled slightly toward me. His eyes blinked open. A beautiful bright blue stared up at me in confusion. The guy glanced around for a moment then struggled to his feet, "Hey, woah, there! Calm down, you just fell from the sky, are you sure you're okay to be standing?" I asked, flustered. He turned away from me and I felt my face heat up, all I could think was '_Dat ass._'.

"Hammer?" he grunted, ignoring me. "Hammer!" He frantically searched the sky, "Father! Heimdall, I know you can hear me, open the Bifrost!"

"Umm... I hope you know that I'm the only one here... Well, unless you count the people across the lake. Or my dog. And his name is certainly not Heimdall." I snarked. He turned back to me, completely disoriented.

"You. What realm is this? Alfheim? Nornheim?"

"Uh, the U.S?" I didn't want to take my eyes off him in case he attacked but I didn't think he realized the status of his clothing. I averted my eyes, glancing back every few seconds at his face only.

"Why do you cower so?" He stepped closer. I stepped back.

"Ahhhh... ummm... Why don't you just give me one moment aaaand I can go find you some clothes..."

He glanced down at himself, noticing his nakedness, "Is it not pleasing to look upon a body so fine as this?"

"It's public indecency, _that's_ what it is!" I snapped, facing completely away from him. Suddenly, I heard a loud crack. I spun around only to see the man disappear under the top half of the tree that had been behind him, "Ohmigod! Oh my God, oh my-" I dashed forward and tore at the branches, "Oh my god, hey you! Use those super muscles I saw and climb out of this, hey!" Somehow, I managed to shift the brunt of the weight off of his body and I began to pull him out. A branch had knocked him on the head, he was out cold. In the panic of the moment I forced myself to forget that he was naked and focused on getting him inside the house, where I could lay him on something. I spent quite a few hours pulling, pushing, rolling, and dragging him. He was a very large man and though I am really tall for a girl, I have no arm strength whatsoever. Finally, I got him situated on the couch and covered him with a blanket.

_Holy shit. I have to- I have to call an ambulance!_ I headed towards the phone, _Wait, what do I say? Hi, a strange man just landed out of a tornado in my backyard then a branch fell on his head? No, Jesus, what the hell do I do?_ I stopped and looked back at him, _I'll... bandage him up the best I can and... wait till he wakes up I guess..._

Now, I know next to nothing about medicine. Luckily for me, he only had a few cuts. It was actually rather miraculous that almost an entire tree had fallen on him and all he came out with was a bump to the head and some scratches. I wasn't one to complain, though I had to laugh as I stuck rainbow band aids on this incredibly buff man. A few more hours passed and night fell. Setting the largest pieces of clothing that I had(yes, I wear men's clothing sometimes, it's so much more comfy than tight women's practical strips of cloth) next to him, I sat on the footstool by the couch and tried to make sense of what happened in my head. I didn't get very far. The man groaned, bringing my thoughts back to the present and I moved closer(which, in hindsight, was kind of dumb). He leapt up, grabbing my upper arms and spun, slamming me against the wall. I shrieked as the corner of a picture frame jammed into my back.

"How dare you attack the son of Odin!? By what form of trickery-" he shouted.

"HEY!" I screamed, cutting him off, "Put. Me. Down!" I stared at him, terror completely obvious on my face, breathing heavily. He blinked. After releasing my arms, he staggered back a few steps. I dropped onto the couch in a gooey puddle of melted nerves and composed myself the best I could, "I-If you're looking for what hit you... Then t-try the tree in my backyard." I stammered.

He narrowed his eyes, then glanced around. Flexing his fingers, "This mortal form has grown weak." he finally grunted, "I need sustenance." I stared at him for a few seconds in disbelief, then snorted.


	2. Smashing Introductions

"Do you like coffee?"

"What?"

"Coffee. The drink?"

"I've never heard of such ale."

I sighed heavily, "Nevermind, I'll make some anyway." I had never actually made coffee myself but I had seen my mother do it a thousand times. I finished that and moved to the pot of mac & cheese, taking it off the burner, "All right, here you go." I served him a bowl and a mug of coffee. He devoured the entire pot of the 'Family size' macaroni and downed the coffee. My two friends, Brienne and Justin, I had called earlier sat and watched with astonishment.

"Sooo... your name is Thor?" Justin asked. The man nodded.

"This drink, I like it." Thor said, his mouth full.

"Ha. Just like every other adult I know." I hated coffee. The smell, the taste, blegh.

He raised the mug and smashed it on the floor, "Another!"

PAUSE- I'd like to take a moment to explain a peculiarity about myself. When I was little, my parents would fight all the time(hence the reason they are now divorced and my mom has a new boyfriend). Often times, they would smash things, anything they could get their hands on at the moment. Most of the time I would be up in my room, pretending not to hear. However, once, when I was about 7, I was watching from behind the counter as they fought. Finally, I got fed up and ran out of hiding to scream at them to stop. The last thing I remember is the sound of something smashing. I woke up a week later in the hospital and it took me an entire month to remember what happened. Ever since then if I'm surprised by something shattering I have a bit of a mental shutdown. -RESUME

"Maria!" Justin and Brienne reacted quickly.

I screamed and instinctively covered my head. My eyes wouldn't focus on anything and I was hyperventilating. Thor tensed, unsure what was wrong. A moment later I calmed slightly, I took a few deep breaths and shut my eyes.

"What happened?" Thor asked. I surged to my feet and raised my hand to slap him across the face. His reflexes were obviously quicker than mine and he caught my wrist.

"What the hell was that for!?" I demanded. He just stared back, blankly.

"It was delicious. I want another."

"Wh- You could have just said so!"

"I just did."

I inhaled sharply to say more but couldn't find the right words. Wrenching my wrist out of his hand, I turned curtly and grabbed a bowl to put the shards in.

"I meant no disrespect." Thor said, his tone a bit more serious but confused.

"Yeah, well, I don't know what your daddy taught you about respect, but it certainly isn't smashing other people's mugs on the floor. I'm starting to think my parents weren't so bad." I snapped, still a bit freaked out.

"Do_ not_ speak of Odin Allfather in such a manner." He spoke dangerously low. I heard his chair scrape as he stood and rose to face him myself. The man towered above me menacingly but at this point, I didn't care.

"That's quite some charade you've got in your house, everyone pretending to be a mythological god? Did the cute little Thor run away in a temper tantrum?" I taunted. Thor inhaled. Had I been any less freaked out and angry I would have backed down immediately, this guy could crush me with his pinky, but I didn't.

"Know this, mortal," he growled, angrily, "You dare speak thus to the god of thunder when he has graced your home with his very presence?"

"I don't care if you actually are a god, you still can't come in here, after I _saved_ you, break my things and expect me to just nod and do whatever you say? Respect is not what _you_ think is respectful. Respect is what the _other person_ thinks is!" I shouted back in his face. I couldn't bear it anymore, I turned and stormed out, leaving a fuming and very confused Thor in my wake. I ran down to the lake and once there, I broke down completely.


	3. The Dread Pirate Roberts

I watched as the sun began to rise over the lake. I had finally calmed down and was debating what I should do next. Yelling then running out like that probably hadn't been my best move. Footsteps crunched behind me. Large, heavy footsteps.

"Hey, listen... Sorry for what I said. I was a bit... out of my head. I'm sorry." I sighed, not turning around.

"I too." Thor responded, hopping over the rocks to get to the one I was sitting on, "I was out of line, and for that, you have my apologies."

I glanced over at him for a moment then laughed, "I… was not really expecting that..." He joined in and just stared at me. For a moment, I held his gaze. Then; I felt my face heat up and I looked away hastily, "U-umm... hoo, wow, I really need sleep..." I stood, momentarily towering above Thor, as I was standing on my rock, and jumped down. I didn't stumble but Thor caught me anyway.

"I could help with that." he whispered, smiling deviously. I reeled back, my face entirely red, and shoved him away. With my feet firmly planted on the ground and him not expecting it, he lost his footing and fell. With a splash, he fully submerged in the shallows around the rocks and sat up, spluttering.

"Oh, God, I'm so-" I began but stopped as I took in the sight. We both paused for a moment then burst out laughing. As I helped him out, I heard snickering behind us. Justin and Brienne were half hidden behind the tiny boathouse, watching the whole scene, "Okay," I sighed, "I need sleep. Justin, could you look through my brother's room and find him some dry clothes? Wake me up in a few hours and could someone feed Robbie?"

"Sure." Justin smiled.

Thor looked confused for a second, "Robbie?"

"My dog. His name is actually The Dread Pirate Roberts, but we all just call him Robbie." I explained.

"I see."

* * *

As soon as I dropped my head onto my pillow, I was fast asleep. When I woke up again, sunlight was streaming through my window and Brienne was shaking me.

"What time is it? Where's Thor?" I asked, sitting up.

"It's about ten and he... well, he took a liking to Robbie. He's outside." she smirked.

"Alright. Thanks for helping me, by the way."

"No problem, but... Maria, this guy seems... delusional. He could be dangerous."

"I know. Don't worry about it though, he doesn't seem like the type to hurt someone on purpose." I reassured her. She shrugged as if to say, 'I warned you'. We went downstairs to find the boys and Justin came in to meet us.

"Okay, Maria, I just thought I'd say this... He is damn hot!" he said and fanned himself, giggling.

"Haha, sorry to disappoint but... I don't think he swings for your team."

"Oh I know, I just thought I'd point that out."

"Justin, I love you." I chuckled. He beamed and went into the kitchen. I followed his trail outside to find Thor. Thor was... well, it looked like he was play fighting with my dog. He looked up as we approached and smiled gleefully.

"Your hound is a fierce warrior! You are lucky to have the loyalty of such a creature." he said. I chuckled to myself, though this man was large and arrogant, he apparently was also a three-year-old at heart.

"Ummm... Thanks. Sooo... Thor, where are you from?" I asked, but he was interrupted before he could answer.

"Hey, Maria?" Justin shouted, running out onto the deck, "Umm, is it okay if my mom comes here for a bit?"

"Yeah, sure, why? Did something happen?" I asked.

"Well, she says that the... my mother is so weird, she says that the 'Men-In-Black' showed up at our house and asked her to leave because a 'satellite' landed in our backyard and they said it was radioactive. That is, honest to God, what she said." he explained.

"Why did you air-quote 'satellite'?" I wondered. Two weird events in a matter of hours meant something was definitely going on.

"Apparently it looked like a hammer to my mom. And it was stuck in the ground." Thor immediately stopped what he was doing and walked up to Justin, putting his hand on his shoulder.

"Where?" he grunted.

"Umm... my house? Up in Newfield?" Justin said.

Thor turned back around to face me, "If you take me there now, I will tell you everything you wish to know."

"Everything?" I asked, having wanted to ask so many questions since I met him.

"Yes."

"Umm... okay."

"I'm, um, going to stay here... to wait for my mom. Brienne, you should stay too, please?" Justin smiled nervously.

"But... Maria shouldn't go alone..." Brienne protested.

"I won't be alone." I said, jerking my thumb at Thor. She kind of just glared at me for a moment, then sighed.

"Fine! Go!" I smiled at her apologetically and ran into the house to get my keys.

I drive a 2008 Scion. Yes, a box car. A friend of mine, named Carmen, calls it the tin can and Justin calls it Uggabug. I, however, love my damn toaster.

Anyway, Thor and I drove off to Newfield. On the way, I called my own mom and explained to her that there had been a freak storm at the house and Justin's so the place would be a bit of a mess and Justin and Brienne would be there. I didn't mention anything about Thor because she would likely send me off to an insane asylum if I did.

"Have I mentioned this whole thing is insane? I honestly believe I am legally insane at this point. Have you ever done anything like this?" I asked, half to myself.

"Many times." Thor chuckled, "But you're brave to do it."

"Yeah, well, you're lucky you're cute." I grumbled back.

"'Cute' am I?" he smiled, "I have been called handsome, dashing, charming, but never 'cute'. You are interesting. Far more interesting than anyone else in this realm."

"Realm? You sound like you're from Lord of the Rings." I laughed.

"You think me strange."

"Yep."

"Good strange or bad strange?"

"I haven't known you long enough yet." I answered simply.


	4. An Old Myth

It had only been about a day since Thor had appeared yet when we arrived at Justin's house we couldn't exactly _find_ the actual house. It was swallowed completely by a miniature city! Surrounded by guards and a ten-foot tall chain link fence, the place was incredibly high tech.

"I don't even see his house anymore! It's completely gone! They don't have the right to do this!" I growled. How they did all that in less than a days I will never know. The light grew dim as storm clouds gathered and I saw Thor glance up and smile. He leaned over and shrugged off his jacket, placing it on my shoulders.

"Hey, what? What are you doing?" I asked.

"You're going to need this. Now stay here." he said firmly.

"What?"

"Once I have Mjolnir, I will force them out and make sure they don't come back. Deal?" he asked.

I stared at him for a moment, "No! Are you kidding me? That place is crawling with Feds. How do you intend to get in there much less get out if your 'plan' goes bad?"

"It won't." he winked. Without saying another word, he leapt past me and ran up toward the fence.

"Damn you, you arrogant boy!" I muttered. I pulled out my phone and called Justin to tell him about his house. Unfortunately for me, the kid lives in the middle of nowhere so I couldn't get a signal. I settled down to wait, watching the perimeter.

* * *

_**Author's note: Everything that happens in the movie at the S.H.I.E.L.D. site including Thor and Loki's conversation is exactly the same. I didn't want to rewrite the entire scene because I feel like the movie presented the emotion of this so much better that I could write it. I've skipped to the scene with Jane arguing with the others.**_

* * *

"Excuse me, can I borrow your phone?" I asked at the store down the road. The girl working there kind of just stared. I knew her from my high school, I'd had a few classes with her but we weren't really friends. Canaan was kind of... really dumb. So it took her a minute to get me the phone. I called my house and my mother picked up.

"Hey mom, I... need you to do something for me. This is kind of crazy but... could you make a patient record at the hospital of tall blond man, mid-twenties, who was admitted with amnesia?" I didn't waste a second. I was desperately hoping this would work considering my mother was a doctor at the local hospital.

"What?!" she exclaimed, "Maria, what is going on?

"Please, Mom, it's really hard to describe, I'm not in any danger but someone else may be. I need to get him out!"

"Him? Maria, are you trying to help a... a boyfriend, get out of trouble with the law?"

"No! Mom, he's not... ugh, just please! Please trust me! I know this sounds bad but I have to do this." I pleaded. I heard a voice in the background of the phone and could just make out Justin.

"Please, Dr. Rossi, she's trying to help a cousin of mine. He's not in danger with the law, he's... well, I'm not sure what's going on up there but Maria obviously thinks he needs help. If you don't trust just her word then trust ours as well!" There was a pause while my mother debated.

Finally, she decided, "Alright. I'll do it right now." Because it was what I wanted I didn't shoot back a retort about trust, I just muttered 'Thanks, call this number when it's done.' and hung up. Leaning back, I sighed. My mother ticked me off sometimes. ...Okay not just sometimes, ALL THE TIME. But I didn't let the issue linger long in my mind as I thought about what I would say. Canaan was looking at me funnily again but I ignored her and waited for the phone to ring. A few minutes later, I was out the door again. Coming up to the gate, I shouted at the guards.

I drew myself up in my most adult manner, "You are holding my charge. I request that he be released!" The men looked at me skeptically but dispatched one of them to get a higher authority. A bit later, I was let in and led to a main building.

"We are holding your charge. Care to explain?" the apparent man in charge asked.

"My mother is a doctor at the local hospital. Yesterday she got a patient who was suffering amnesia. I volunteered to stick by him and help him find things that he may remember. The man you have in your secret society lockbox is my charge. I call him Matt." I said, clearly.

"He is... quite dangerous a charge for a young girl like you." He glanced aside at one of his men sitting at a computer and the man nodded ever so slightly.

"Ha. You should see how he acts around my dog. He may be a big, buff, arrogant, guy but he is a big softie when it comes to girls and puppies."

"And you have no idea where he came from?"

"All we know is that he was in a minor accident in Shapleigh and was sent to my mother's hospital. Seeing as I've only had him for a day, we haven't found any clues yet." I lied.

"So why was he here?"

"My friend, you know, the one who lived here until you came in and set up shop, came over to my house. I wanted to find out what was going on so we came here. 'Matt' was angry because you people tore down my friend's house without so much as an apology."

"There you are, Matt," I breathed as I was let into his 'holding cell', he looked up at me in confusion, "Come on, let's go back to the house, and we'll... oh, I don't know, go swimming or something." I silently prayed to God that he wouldn't say anything and would just go along with it. Which he did. We quickly got out of the area and back into my car. It rained all the way back.

"You know, I had it all backwards. I had it all wrong." Thor said, on the way, "For the first time in my life, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do."

"Well, for someone to... find their way, they have to get lost first." I responded gently. I didn't have a clue as to what he was talking about but I wanted to find out. I paused for a moment, then laughed, "Wow, that sounded really profound didn't it?"

He chuckled along with me for a bit, finally just gazing at me, "Thank you."

"Uh, no... no problem!" I stammered. The man fell silent for a long while. I was tempted to turn on the radio but I somehow didn't feel like I should. He just sat, staring out the window, then;

"My father was trying to teach me something, but I was too stupid to see it." he sighed.

"But you see it now, right?" I asked, he nodded, "I think, that's what matters. All of life's journeys, all the things we go through, teach us lessons. Sometimes it just takes a little more than you think."

"You've been so kind to me. And I've been far less grateful than you deserve." he smiled apologetically.

"Well, you've had to put up with my insanity so I think that's a bit evened out." We laughed. As I have probably failed to mention, I'm a bit of a fake mythology buff. 'Fake' because I don't actually know anything about it. It interests me and I love learning about it but I haven't really 'done my research'. I glanced over at Thor, wondering if he actually was the god of thunder. Whether he was or not, it was clear that he was from a very interesting place, "So, tell me about your home."

* * *

_**Author**_**'**_**s note: If any of you are even remotely interested in checking out the original Norse myths involving Thor and the other gods I highly recommend it. It is very interesting to see the similarities between Norse mythology and pretty much every other mythological viewpoint. Plus, if nothing else, it's really amusing to learn new things about one of Earth's favorite Avengers ;)**_


	5. Mother Knows Best

Okay, for all of you out there that have parent issues, _I completely understand_. Though I know my problems may not be as bad as some, they are still very annoying. My mother doesn't trust me, thinks I'm a whore, somehow manages to convince herself that she actually cares about what I think, refuses to believe that she is going deaf and is incredibly forgetful. Also, somehow, she just _loves _my older brother(Druggie, drinker, partier extraordinaire). So, when Thor and I got back to my house, she was... unhappy, shall we say.

"Maria Lockridge, _what_ is going on?" she asked as she opened the door.

I sighed, "Mom, this is Thor. Thor, my mother. You won't believe me but I will say it anyway. Thor fell from the sky, created that crater in the backyard, the tree fell on his head and I took care of him until he woke up. I called Brienne and Justin over and then Justin's mother called to ask if she could come too because the penguins showed up at their house and took possession of a 'satellite' that landed in their backyard. Thor said that it was, in fact, his and asked me to help him get it. I couldn't let him go alone so I agreed. When we got there, Justin's house was destroyed and Thor got captured so I got him out."

"You... you think I would actually believe that?" my mother spluttered.

"Good lady, I-" Thor started, but I cut him off.

"No, that's why I'll tell you the fake story, I was out doing the shopping when I accidently hit Thor with my car, He wasn't actually hurt just stunned for a bit, so I brought him back here and called Brienne and Justin and the magnitude of the storm at their house was so bad that his mother asked to come here. We went tooling around and Thor accidently broke something in a store when I was in the bathroom. He didn't want to tell the police who he actually was so I made up the story that he had amnesia and that I was helping him out. There, I'm sorry, it won't happen again." I spouted off the top of my head. It was obviously a lie but it was much more believable than the truth.

My mom ranted at me for the better part of the next hour saying all kinds of crap about obeying the law and crap like that. I mostly ignored her until she got to the bit about 'bringing strange men home without telling her'. By then, I had had enough.

"Oh, don't even go there." I warned.

"What? You bring home a strange man and you're telling _your mother_ not to be mad about it?"

"I'm telling you not to be such a damn hypocrite!" I screamed, "You have no right to lecture me about bringing home strange men that you don't know when that's exactly what happened with your new _boyfriend_! I don't care if you've known him for forever, I haven't! You never asked me! You didn't even have enough decency to give me the barest of warnings! All of a sudden I get home and _bang_ there he is and 'Oh, by the way, he's going to move in, k thanks bye.'"

"Maria... if you had such a problem with it then why didn't you tell me?" she asked, moving over to hug me.

"Don't! Don't touch me!" I recoiled and moved back to where I had been, next to Thor. My mother was a touchy-feely person and I, was definitely not, "I really don't give a damn about your love life, I was a bit ticked when you blamed me for 'hurting his feelings' that one time when all I did was not say 'Hi' _once_! But that's not the problem. The problem is that you didn't care what I thought enough to ask me, until about a month later, so don't you _dare_ pretend that you care about me now!"

"But I do care about you, Maria..." she continued advancing and Thor stepped between us.

"I do not understand much of what this argument is about, but it is clear that Maria does not like your actions. I suggest you stop." he threatened. I glanced at him in confusion. Even I knew that our fight made it look like I was the one who wasn't listening and that my mother was the good guy. No matter how much I knew that wasn't true, I also knew what it looked like. I had thought Thor was going to stay out of it, especially after our conversation about his own parents.

My mom laughed, "You're trying to protect my daughter from me? I'm not going to hurt her, I could never hurt my little girl!"

"Wrong!" I smirked, beyond being upset, "I never told you, but I have always remembered what happened, when I was 7. When I ran in on one of your fights with Dad. You threw the bowl. Intentionally. I know because I saw you look at me, I saw you _smile_. It was a plan, wasn't it? To get custody of my brother and I after the divorce. You blamed it on Dad, and since I was a kid, if I had said anything against you it wouldn't have made a difference." I shook my head, I had known for a long time, "I don't even care anymore. What's done is done. All I ask is that you don't pretend to care about me beyond a financial perspective. Because, hey, I _am_ your daughter, so you have to care about me somehow."

I turned, snagging Thor's hand and went out the door. Reaching into my pocket to get my phone, I heard Brienne and Justin follow me out.

"Carmen?" I asked after dialing her number.

"Maria, what's up?"

"Ummm... hey, do you think your parents would mind if I came over for tonight? Justin and Bri are here too."

"Hang on one sec... I'll go ask." The four of us got into my car and I handed the phone to Brienne to talk for me.

"She says it's fine." she announced, "Do you want me to tell her about... him?"

"Tell her, that there's someone else too and that we'll explain when we get there." I said. We got to Carmen's house; she lived just down the road. Justin's mother stayed at my house while we spent the night at Carmen's. Now that the crazy stuff was over, I began to notice that Thor was acting different. Whatever happened to him at the crash site changed him. He was more at ease, more accepting of everything. My three friends and I kept him up almost all night, just having fun and doing what we do at random hours of the night. Chat, play games, etc.


	6. Temperence END

Carmen was surprisingly chill around Thor, after her first reaction of 'stunned into silence'. When we all woke up the next morning, someone, I think it was Justin, remembered the festival that was going on in town at the local high school. We decided to go and hang there for the day, show Thor around a bit. He no longer seemed impatient or eager to get home in the least. He seemed... not really content but resigned. I figured something had happened when he went to get 'Mjolnir', but I never asked.

Anyway, we walked around the Old Homes Days festival for a few hours. Thor was amusingly fascinated by all the booths and such.

"Maria, what _is_ this contraption?"

I turned away from the lemonade stand to see what he was looking at, "Huh? Oh, that's a dunk tank. Someone sits on that little platform thing and other people throw baseballs, or what have you, at that circle. If someone hits it, the platform drops and the person falls into the water."

"Huh." he grunted, still staring at it, "Oh look, someone's getting in."

We watched for a minute as some kid's friends tried to dunk him, and failed pretty epically. Finally, one decided to run up and push the button. The kid in the tank got drenched and climbed back out to tackle the friend that dunked him and get him wet too. I glanced over at Thor and saw that he was unimpressed, "It would be far more amusing if the tank was full of ale." he commented. I snickered.

"I don't think parents would like that too much." Thor gave me an odd look and shrugged. We stayed for a few more minutes before deciding to go get pizza at the shop down the street. It was when we were in there, that we apparently didn't notice the same tornado-like thing that had dropped Thor into my yard. We sat and chatted, introducing the mighty Thor to the wonders of pizza and soda(As his drink of choice, ale, was not easily gotten).

"Sooo, you are the God of Thunder...?" Carmen asked.

"I was. Now... I'm not sure what I am." Thor answered sullenly.

"Um, hey, so, Carmen, did you see that thing Lori posted on facebook? I laughed so hard I cried!" I said, quickly changing the subject.

"Oh, the 'Trolling Saruman' thing? Yeah, that was so great!"

All of a sudden there was a bang on the window. As I turned to look, mouth half-stuffed with pizza, my jaw hit the floor.

"Found you!" a very large Viking man, with a huge beard called, jovially. Beside him stood a man that looked like a ninja, a blond with a very French moustache, and a beautiful black haired woman. All were dressed in armor and carried weapons. They hurriedly went around to the door to the shop and came in.

"My friends!" Thor exclaimed, standing. He laughed and gave the Viking a bear hug and moved on to the others.

"This is good, this is good!" the Viking laughed.

"Uh... what, exactly, just happened?" I asked, utterly lost.

"Excuse me. Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. I am Volstagg, this is Fandral and this is Hogun" he introduced, pointing to the French moustache and the ninja. I shared a look with Brienne, who was sitting beside me.

"My friends," Thor repeated, "I've never been happier to see anyone. But you should not have come."

The group looked confused and Fandral spoke up, "We're here to take you home."

"You know I can't go home." Thor said. He looked at them, not sure what was going on, "My father, is dead because of me. And I must remain in exile."

"What?" I whispered in shock. Of all the things I thought might have happened, that was not one of them. It seemed like Sif shared my confusion.

"Thor," She shook her head slightly, "Your father still lives."

The man's eyes widened, then narrowed slightly in understanding. Suddenly, the building began to shake. We all rushed out the door to see what was going on and saw yet another tornado strike the ground, in the football field of the school.

"Was... someone else coming?" Carmen asked quietly. Thor turned to me.

"Maria, you have to leave."

"What? What're you gonna do?"

"I'm staying here."

Volstagg chimed in eagerly, "Thor's going to fight with us!"

"My friends, I'm just a man. I'll only be in the way, or worse, get one of you killed." He shook his head sadly, "But, I can help get these people to safety."

"I'm not going anywhere, Thor." I interjected, planting my feet. He looked me in the eye and smiled lopsidedly.

"You are hopeless," he murmured, then turned back to the Viking, "We'll need some time."

"You'll have it." Volstagg promised.

We ran back towards the fair began evacuating people. Whatever it was that had landed, was taking its sweet time getting its bearings, which was good for us. Most people had already started running from it but some idiots were edging closer. Thor and I intercepted them as fast as we could while Brienne, Justin and Carmen spread out to the rest of the school grounds. The Warriors Three and Sif immediately engaged the thing. I couldn't see what was happening with them, paying more attention to what I myself was doing. I did, however, hear explosions all over the place. We ran past them after getting everyone out and Thor ground to a halt. Volstagg was on his back, trapped by the thing, when Sif came flying out of nowhere and drove her spear through its neck. They looked relieved for a moment until it began to morph and somehow turn itself around. Sif rolled off it and Hogun and Fandral jumped in to help Volstagg out of the way. It's face opened up and it fired... well, fire. At the warrior, sending them careening through the air and crashing into things.

Thor shouted at the four of us when it started heading towards our group, "Go. Now, RUN!" It blew out the windows of the wall ahead of us and we were showered in bits of glass. Thor ran the other way to where Sif was lying. After a moment she came over to us and made sure we were all right. I was about to join Thor but she stopped me and the other three joined us saying; "We need to fall back, come on. Come on!"

"Wait! Thor!" I said, glancing at where the man was standing. He held Sif's shield and was standing completely out in the open. Throwing the shield down, he walked calmly toward the monster, "What is he...? Thor!" I called, fighting against Sif's restraint. He stood just before the thing and stopped. We were close enough to just barely hear what he said.

"Brother, whatever I have done to wrong you, whatever I have done to lead you to do this, I am truly sorry. But these people are innocent. Taking their lives will gain you nothing." The monster's face opened and the fire began to curl deep in its throat, "So take mine and end this." My eyes widened and I screamed in protest, but they ignored me. The thing's face closed and it turned to walk away. I took the beginnings of a deep breath that was unleashed in another scream as the thing backhanded Thor across the face. I broke away from Sif and ran to where he landed roughly. He had two large gashes across his chest and one across his eyebrow.

"Thor, oh god..."

"It's... over." he gasped.

"No, no it's not. I'm won't let that...!" I started.

"I mean, you're safe." he chuckled weakly, "It's over." My hands were shaking as I reached up to brush a lock of hair out of his eyes. He smiled at me and breathed out quietly, closing his eyes.

"No," I whispered frantically, tears beginning to drip off my cheeks, "No, no, no, no! Don't you DARE!" I shook his shoulder lightly, then, not getting any response, I grabbed his face, "You are NOT dying on me, I swear to god, Thor!" I glanced around, panicked and saw something flying towards us. I vaguely heard Brienne scream something behind me and I was pulled away from Thor's body by one of the Warriors, "No!" I fought unsuccessfully.

I looked up again and was just able to discern a hammer before I had to cover my head. All I saw was a flash of light. Thunder crashed overhead and when I looked back Thor was standing there, a red cape billowing behind him.

"I've lost it." I muttered.

* * *

He strode out of the huge cloud of dust that had enveloped the two of them as they fought and came right up to me.

I said, still a bit stunned, "So these are your 'normal' clothes?"

"More or less." he grinned.

"Nice cape."

He smiled at me again and turned to his friends, "We must return to the Bifrost site, I would have words with my brother." They nodded.

"Excuse me!" a new, or rather old, voice called out. It was the agent that I had talked to when Thor had been captured, "'Matt'? Seems like you've... _remembered_...?"

"Know this, Son of Coul." Thor announced, "You and I, we fight for the same cause, the protecting of this world. From this day forward, you can count me as your ally so long as you remove yourselves from the area you seized from Justin Hall."

"Destroyed!" I interjected.

"Renovated." the agent finished, "Of course, Mr. Hall, can have his house back. Seeing as the reason we were even there is now in your hands."

Thor glanced at me, "Would you like to see the bridge I told you about?"

"The Bifrost? The one that connects Midgard and Asgard?" I asked, remembering what he had told me when we were driving back from Justin's house. He nodded, "Yes, sure!"

He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me in, smiling deviously. Raising his arm he spun his hammer and we flew into the air. I just barely heard the agent shout after us; "Wait! I need to debrief you!"

We arrived minutes later at my house where, thankfully, my mother was not home. The others joined us momentarily with Brienne driving my car. Thor strode immediately to the middle of the crater in my backyard and called out.

"Heimdall, open the Bifrost." He waited for a moment and glanced back at me in confusion, "Heimdall? Heimdall! He doesn't answer." He went over to the warriors.

"Then we are stranded." Hogun cursed.

"Heimdall! If you can hear me we need you now!" Thor shouted at what seemed like nothing. He had told me that Heimdall was the Gatekeeper of Asgard, and the only one who could open the Bifrost aside from whomever held Gungnir, the King's staff. The group of us looked around nervously, wondering what was happening at the gate. All of a sudden the tornado began to form above them and stretch down to touch the ground. The warriors smiled and rushed forward to stand in the crater. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Fandral bow and kiss Carmen's fingers lightly. I smirked and my attention was forced back to Thor when he hugged me closer to him, "I must go back to Asgard, but I give you my word. I will return for you." He raised my hand and kissed it, "Deal?"

PAUSE- Before this adventure, I had never been in a relationship. Never even kissed anyone. I was probably the purest teenager you would ever have known. So _no experience what. so. ever._ None of that stopped me from what happened next. -RESUME

I leaned forward and kissed him. Having nothing to compare it to, I really can't describe it. And so we move on.

"Deal." I said.

The warriors and Thor stood in the middle of the crater and let the tornado consume them. A storm ensued and ended after a short while and the sky cleared. That was the last I saw of Thor for a very long time.

THE END

...

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	7. The True End

_**Author's note: Hey, welcome back! I would highly recommend watching 'The Avengers' before reading this chapter, it will make ever so much more sense. Thank you!**_

* * *

"Hey, Maria!"

I turned to face the person who had called out, "Brienne! God, it feels like it's been so long!" I laughed, giving her a hug.

"I know, right? But, it's good to see you again, how have you been?" she asked. The two of us had gone our separate ways the year before, after that... interesting, summer, off to college. Brienne had moved to New York City to study some kind of criminal psychology or something like that. I had been studying Mythology and had just returned from a month abroad in England. Landing just outside of Manhattan, I had decided to visit Brienne before heading home.

"Oh, same old same old." I replied, "You?"

"Same." she laughed back, "Is it okay for you to take such a long break from your training?"

"Haha, yeah, I've made a lot of progress this past year." I had been training my body rigorously, Tae Kwon Do, Jeet Kune Do, any kind of fighting art I could learn.

"So, what do you want to see first? This is your first time here, right?"

"Yeah, unless you count coming on a Girl Scout trip, like, ten years ago? I want to go see the Stark tower!" I told her, excitedly. I was completely content to play the part of the typical tourist, after having done so for a month in England. Brienne nodded, expecting that to be one of my first picks. We strolled down the streets just catching up as friends do.

"Oh, yeah, there's this guy I think you should meet, Maria."

_Uh, what? _"Guy?" I asked, hesitantly.

"Yes! He's totally into all the gaming and anime and all that stuff that you like! And he's _to die for_ cute!" she said.

"Well, I'd love to meet him, but... not like on a date or anything."

"Why not? I mean, come on, you have to break your almost _nineteen_ year 'no boyfriend' streak." Brienne pushed. I laughed slightly, because it was kind of true. I had never had a _legit_ boyfriend in all my almost nineteen years(I turn nineteen in a week). But that was overlooking something.

"Aren't you forgetting someone? Sorry I'm taken!" I said. Yep. Me, Maria Lockridge, had a(sort of) boyfriend. If you've read my diary, journal, story, thing before this, you know exactly who I'm talking about.

"It's been a year, Maria. You know, he _is_ a king, he might have some kind of arranged marriage or something. Maybe that's why he hasn't come back?" my friend smiled gently. I smiled back.

"He asked me to wait for him. So, until I hear a rejection from his mouth, I'll wait."

Brienne looked at me worriedly, I knew why. Here I was, waiting for a man that fell out of the sky, straight out of myth, onto my doorstep. But it's not like I'm just sitting idly by, waiting. I was no astrophysicist, or whatever, that studied the atmosphere and all that. I couldn't just go looking for him. So, I trained. I wanted to make myself someone he could be proud to stand beside. Training my body while continuing my studies into mythology.

Anyway, we continued walking towards the towering monument of Tony Stark's ego. I didn't really want to go inside(I think they had some kind of tour or something) I just wanted to see it. It had been on the news a zillion times, it was cool just standing outside. I looked up at the huge tower, perhaps I was hoping to maybe get a glimpse of Ironman, like so many others standing there. I guess... you could call it luck? Or, you could call it misfortune. Either way it's interesting.

"Is that...?" Brienne started. She too was looking up.

"Oh God!" I finished. A man had come crashing out of the top floor window and was falling spread-eagled towards us. As we watched, some kind of apparatus clung onto him from behind. In a rather belated realization, we saw Ironman's suit click together and his flight boosters power up just over our heads, and he blasted back up to the top of the tower.

I shared a look with Brienne, disbelief written clearly across both of our faces, "That..." I glanced back up at the tower, "Shit."

A surge of energy shook the ground below us as a beam of what looked like lightning or something out of Star Wars shot up from the Stark tower, opening ...something. I grabbed Brienne's arm to help her stay on her feet, "This _has_ to happen the one day I'm here!? Really?"

"What's going on!?" Brienne cried.

"I don't know but those don't look too friendly!" I responded pointing up at the _creatures_ issuing out of the hole in the sky. We could see explosions from, assumingly, Ironman and some of the things were dropping nearby, "Run!" I screamed, half aiming it at Brienne, half at the other onlookers beside us. The creatures were getting past Ironman and approaching too fast for my liking. They started to shoot at us and everyone scattered.

"Weapon... weapon..." I muttered, glancing around fervently. One of the flying scooter-things landed in front of me and I rolled behind something. In the panic of the moment I didn't even know what it was. I stood, knowing they had seen me, and ran in the opposite direction of where they landed. More and more came, they were _everywhere_! I could hear screaming all around me. The things gunfire sounded like laser beams, and were, unfortunately, aimed at me. Fortunately, they had bad aim. One shot a car just in front of me, the shot so powerful it blew the car into the air with an impressive explosion. They were right behind me now. I dove to my right and, conveniently, rolled over a cane that someone had dropped. Hey, I wasn't about to complain. I snatched it up, hearing one of the creatures come up on my left, and swung upward. Catching the thing's face, it recoiled from the blow, and I reversed my cane, double-handing the down swing. That one went down but another was hot on my tail, intending to slice at me with its sword-gun thing. I whipped around and blocked with my cane. God, those things were strong. It leaned into my parry, snarling and drooling grossly, making my feet slide back on the tar. I pushed its force to the left and the creature fell towards me, following its momentum. I took the opportunity and smashed the butt of my cane in its face. They didn't stop there, another came up over the one I had already downed. I lashed out with my right leg, catching its sword-gun thing and ripping it out of its hands. Following my momentum, I leapt and left roundhouse kicked its head.

Pausing to catch my breath, I heard a deafening roar from high above me. I glanced up, "This isn't happening..." I whispered to myself.

An enormous centipede-like thing crawled out of the hole and began to descend. I glimpsed Ironman shoot flares at it and get its attention. It turned to follow him, and they both flew out of my sight. I snapped back into the moment, facing more of the creatures that were landing and advancing on me. Instead of staying put and letting them swarm me, I'd dispatch one or two then run a ways down the street to leave the slower ones behind. As I made my way away from the tower, I could hear fighting ahead. I got closer and saw a man with a bow and a red-haired woman, dressed in black jumpsuits, killing one creature after another. I turned to fight another behind me but another man in a blue and red jumpsuit beat me to it. He threw his shield at the next one, decapitating it cleanly.

"Get out of here!" he said, not turning around.

"I'm trying!" I replied.

Suddenly, though, when you're caught up in the moment, nothing happens suddenly... Anyway, lighting cracked through the air and the last three monsters in front of us fell, sizzling.

My breath caught in my throat and I saw _him_ land there, staggering to lean on an overturned car.

"THOR!" I screamed. He looked up, at first in confusion, then in terror.

"Maria? You shouldn't be here!"

"Don't give me that! Are you hurt?" I ran up to him, worried. He shook his head.

"Maria, you _need _to get out of here..." he persisted.

"Introductions later, please?" the woman interrupted, "From what I saw, you can handle yourself." That was directed at me. I nodded, incredibly glad I had trained so seriously.

"What's the story upstairs?" the man in blue asked Thor. Thor swallowed painfully and turned his attention away from me.

"The power surrounding the Cube is impenetrable."

I was so lost. Cube? The others glanced around, reacting to something I couldn't hear. Then, the redhead continued.

"How do we do this?"

"As a team." the man in blue finished.

"I need to get Maria out of here." Thor said.

"No, I'm staying." I interrupted, "I can fight. I'm not leaving these people here to die."

"It's too dangerous!"

"I know!"

"Save it!" the man in blue shouted, "I saw her fight, she can defend herself. Loki's going to keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him, these things could run wild. We got Stark up top. He's going to need us to-" He was cut off by the sound of a moped coming up behind him. A disheveled-looking, older man got off and walked up.

"So, this all seems... horrible." he said.

The redhead deadpanned back, "I've seen worse."

"Sorry."

"No, we could use a little worse."

"Stark, we got him." the man in blue said, seemingly to no one. Then it clicked, they were talking to Tony Stark, I could see their earpieces. Although it seems a little late, it was about then that I wondered, just _what_ had I gotten myself into, "Just like you said."

Ahead of our group, speak(or rather think) of the devil and the devil shall appear, Ironman came flying around a building with the caterpillar creature right behind.

"I- I don't see how that's a party." the redhead said, leaving me feeling completely out of the loop. No one moved for a moment, until the last man to join us started walking towards the thing that was bearing down on us rather quickly.

"Dr. Banner." the man in blue called, "Now might be a really good time for you to get angry."

"That's my secret, Captain." he replied, "I'm always angry." He looked back at the creature, now even closer, and let out a horrifying roar as his skin turned green and he grew. He punched the caterpillar creature's nose into the ground, himself being pushed back almost to us. The rest of the thing's body reared up above us. Suddenly Thor dove over me and the creature exploded overhead.

The street was full of the strange cries of the creatures and I looked up at the hole nervously. Seeing exactly what I was worried I would, I knew it was going to be a long day.

* * *

After the battle...

Sorry, I just thought it would be rather boring to continue to explain how we all kicked ass out there and Ironman closed the portal and blah blah blah. In truth, I didn't really see much of it. I stayed on the ground and helped the police get civilians out, killing a few creatures here and there. I did join the Avengers(as I later found out) when they captured Loki, mostly because Thor wouldn't let me out of his sight after I had almost been shot. But anyway, after all that, I finally had some time to talk to Thor.

"May I be, likely, the first, if a little late, to welcome you back to Earth?" I said grinning.

"Maria..." He caught my eyes and held them, a deep pain hidden there, "Don't do that to me. Promise me you won't do anything like that again."

I smiled up at him, "I will only make that promise if you do."

"But..." I shushed him before he could continue.

"I missed you."

"Me too." he said, "I-"

"Don't say it. I know." In truth I had known the whole time, "Don't apologize for what you have to do."

"Come with me."

I had been preparing my heart for this- ...What? I stood in utter shock. Did he just...? No...

"I- I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that..." I stammered.

"Come _with_ me. I don't ever want to let you out of my sight again." he chuckled slightly.

"I, um, wh- Yes!"

THE ACTUAL END

* * *

_**Author's note: I'M SOOOOOORRRRRYYYYYY! I had to :) Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed the true final chapter of Tempering Thunder! If you liked this please check out my other stories as well and leave me a review to let me know what you liked.**_


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